Fourth Fairy Tail
by Mrs. HopeEstheim
Summary: After chapter 253! Read that first. VERY briefly hints at Romeo/Wendy. - In which Fairy Tail is no more and Mest becomes a father figure to Romeo.


**This **_**was**_** going to be a crazy sort of crackfic, but I went more serious. So…haha.**

**These are in NO WAY my true thoughts on 253, just a way to vent. Haha.**

**Oh, yeah. **_**Spoilers for chapter 253**_**. If you haven't read it yet, then I'd advise you to before reading this.**

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><p>Young Romeo had had a sense of foreboding since the competitors in the S-class exams had left for Tenrou Island. He didn't know why. He was young and didn't fully appreciate the significance of such feelings; he just felt bad and that was all. But little did he, or any of the others knew that just as surely as Tenrou Island was no more after a huge roaring sound and a flash, a wave, and then a receding of water, the magic of Fairy Tail was gone too.<p>

It was the beginning of the end.

The boy's father, out on his mission, felt his powers draining as he heard the tremendous explosion that was Acnologia's attack and destruction of the island. For just an instant, Macao turned his gaze toward the sea before turning back to the vicious beast he was fighting. As the draining of his magic continued, he knew that this was the end; he would fall here, to this creature. Romeo, his son, would be left to the questionably capable hands of the guild. And even if his upbringing would be strange at best, Macao would still rather that his son was raised by his nakama at Fairy Tail than by his mother; they had been divorced for a reason.

Macao didn't know it, but he was the twenty-second struck down that day. The first twenty-one had been obliterated by a dragon, along with the famed Tenrou Island. And from then on, the casualties would only grow.

Not even six hours later, trying to come back from her mission, Lucky was ambushed and consequently killed, along with her temporary partner Mickey Chickentiger. Then went Wakaba. Jet and Droy. Nab. The gunslingers fell together; Alzack throwing himself in front of Bisca, desperately trying to save her–alas, they were both impaled upon the same stake by a dark guild's mage, but they found the strength to confess their feelings to each other just as they breathed their very last.

The rest would fall to a rival guild not even a full year after the disaster had occurred, fighting to the last even though their magic power had deserted them when the Tenrou Tree had been destroyed.

Even the former Queen of the Exceeds had fallen from grace, flying out over a chasm in her despair at losing her daughter Charle and then allowed herself to plummet unhindered into the depths of the abyss. She would meet her daughter soon.

And just like that, Romeo was alone.

His crush, Wendy, had been one of the first to go.

His father Macao had immediately followed.

And yet here was he, all alone in the world; the last remnant of the infamous mage guild, although he had never been officially a member. Everyone he had ever cared about was lost to him forever, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. Even the ever-abrasive Polyusica must have, at some time in her youth, belonged to Fairy Tail, for she was tracked down by enemies of Master Makarov and quickly overcome.

It was over. An age of recklessness and foolishness, all because of the fun-loving guild…it was all at its end.

Young though he was, the young Romeo began to doubt all of humanity. Was there anyone left who was as brave, selfless, and inwardly strong as Fairy Tail's Salamander, Natsu Dragneel? As whiny but secretly caring and kindly like Lucy Heartfilia? Or even someone who stripped like Gray Fullbuster but still had the nerve to be embarrassed by it? Anyone as motherly but intimidating as Erza Scarlet? And speaking of motherly, was there another as truly kind (if sometimes devious) as Fairy Tail's Mirajane? And was there anyone at all as rough around the edges but also a wholly dedicated and caring father like Macao had been?

Was the entire age truly at an end without the guild?

These were the kinds of thoughts that Romeo thought for months after the catastrophe, and they were the thoughts he was thinking three months after all the guild members aside from himself were laid to rest with the help of the citizens of Magnolia. These were the thoughts he was thinking when the council finally showed up to ask why there had been no paperwork filed for the guild, and even to ask why there had been no destruction. Macao's son was aloof, merely shoving an inquiry aside. He was content to suffer alone after telling them simply that, "I'm the only one left" and walking away to sit at a corner of the bar.

His determination to wallow alone was shattered when an underling of the council came over, just as determined to draw Romeo into conversation as Romeo was to keep his mouth shut.

"The people of your guild were really brave, y'know? The bravest I ever knew."

"What do you know?" asked Romeo then, like any child trying to shun an adult who wished to console them.

"I know that Natsu and Wendy and all the others died trying to save the world. Did you? I know that they all stood strong until the very last minute. I know that ever single person in this guild had to have had those same qualities and that unerring loyalty. And I think that you do, too."

Romeo finally looked up to see who was bringing back painful thoughts and faint recognition flitted across his face. It was the man who had posed as a friend; Mest.

"Why should I trust you?"

Even if he hadn't been on the island, he knew _that_ particular story.

"Because together, we can rebuild Fairy Tail," he whispered to the boy, glancing over his shoulder at the activity of the others. "It might bring you painful memories, and it will bring me some too, but it's better than forgetting all the sacrifices they made for us, isn't it?"

Macao's progeny stared at Mest for several long minutes, examining the scarred features that seemed much older than Romeo remembered. But most of all, he read the eyes of the older man; they were earnest. He shouldn't believe Mest, Romeo knew–he's a good liar, that much is certain–but he does anyway. And so he reaches out and takes the councilman's outstretched hand with a confirmatory nod.

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><p>The name of Fairy Tail and all of their numerous misdeeds had been cleared by the council the next year.<p>

It was funny, Romeo thought, how they were forgiven once they were already dead. He supposed that it just showed how much Fairy Tail had truly meant to the entire kingdom of Fiore, and how damaged everything seemed without them.

Romeo had spent the year living and training with Mest. The councilman was like a foster-father, or maybe an older brother. As Romeo had never been branded with the Fairy Tail guild emblem, his magic had not been tied to the Tenrou Tree yet; he was slowly learning how to harness his power and use it. Just like all the others had done in their time.

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><p>The council had tried to promote Mest in the third year since the eradication of Tenrou Island. When he refused outright and was asked incredulously why, he told them in simple terms.<p>

"I'm going to have to leave the council soon, anyway."

He was looked at oddly before he continued.

"Romeo and I are going to rebuild Fairy Tail."

Even more oddly than the look the council gave him before he said that was the fact that they fully approved of the decision.

Romeo was proud of his new role model.

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><p>The fourth year after the disaster marked the days when Mest and Romeo began to rebuild. First they recruited a few new mages to help them and began to go in and fix whatever had been damaged or vandalized in the last few years. They were never branded with the guild emblem in case it still tied magic to the nonexistent Tenrou Tree; instead it was emblazoned upon nearly everything they wore.<p>

All of them were drilled in the ways of the third Fairy Tail; Makarov's Fairy Tail; the bravest of them all.

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><p>Five long years since the Tenrou Island catastrophe.<p>

Jellal Fernandez was released from the council's cells and immediately made his way to the new Fairy Tail. He was vouched for by a few of the other members; Milliana, Wally, and Sho, who knew that Erza would have been deeply upset had they not done so. And they loved her like a sister. Where she had placed her trust, they would also place theirs.

He was a helpful addition. He helped the newest members learn that courage and strength were indeed valued assets in Fairy Tail, but that loyalty, trust, and forgiveness should hold an even stronger place in their hearts. His regret for what he had done to his friends in the past and for what he had done to Erza made Jellal an especially good teacher of these values.

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><p>Six years.<p>

It struck Romeo hard that six years had already passed since he'd lost his father and everyone that he had ever known. Six years and he was finally learning to belong once again.

For a while after that realization, he distanced himself from the new Fairy Tail. After all, by being a part of this, wasn't he just replacing the others? Wasn't he just running away and hiding from it by burying their memory (may they rest in peace) with new memories?

It took a good old fashioned Fairy Tail punch to the face by Sho to straighten him out. And after that, a few wise words from his foster-father Mest would go a long way.

"It's not wrong to belong somewhere, Romeo," said the wise man. "As long as you know that you're not replacing them in your hear, and as long as you still remember them, there is nothing wrong with creating a new place for yourself among our new family."

And that was that.

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><p>Seven years had come and gone and the fourth Fairy Tail began to blossom. Voted master by a unanimous decision was none other than Jellal Fernandez; the famous Fairy Tail trust that spread even to old enemies had already been revived in the new Fairy Tail. Milliana, Wally, and Sho had already blown a few buildings up somehow. There was a new man who drank like Cana, and Romeo could remember the card mage and smile now.<p>

A sense of the old Fairy Tail was back; a sense of almost-normalcy.

Still, there were days when Romeo would do nothing but stand on the docks and stare in the direction that Tenrou Island had once been. He'd watch the waters undulate and rise and fall and he would wistfully wish for the old days to come back to him. How he wanted them back–his hero Natsu and his father Macao. How he missed them. But on days like these, he would often feel a hand descend upon his shoulder and look up to find Mest staring sadly in the same direction.

They were bonded in more ways than Romeo had ever realized before these days.

On one such occasion, the older man said, "I would like to think they'd be proud of us for all that we've done, but I find myself wishing almost every single night that it had never come to this…"

"We can't help what's in the past," said Romeo softly. "But I'm sure they're proud of us."

"You speak wise words for your age," Mest observed, smiling kindly down at the boy who was his son in all but blood. Romeo remained silent for several long minutes, but then a soft chuckle came from him.

"You said I was wise," he explained without being asked, "but I learned all of it from you."

And so the days wore on, and the fourth Fairy Tail grew nearer to the third Fairy Tail that Romeo and Mest had both remembered. To himself, Romeo would often think,_ At least this way, they will never be forgotten_. And it was true that they wouldn't.

Sure, Fairy Tail could never be the exact same, but that somehow made it easier for Romeo to remember _his_ first Fairy Tail. The one where he had his father, and Cana, and Natsu, and all the others. Even as time kept passing by, he had only to close his eyes to see them all smiling back at him once more.

And that was all he needed.

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><p><strong>Okay. So…I did indeed kill everyone else off. Even Charle's mom. I was rather pissed at Hiro Mashima for the events of 253, although I do not believe he really killed them off (I think they're going to come back soon; I have to or I'll go insane).<strong>

**But anyway. This is my alternative ending of sorts for Fairy Tail. Because Romeo staring at the sea would make sense if the boy at the end of 253 is indeed Romeo like I, and several others, believe it is.**

**Anyway, if you liked it, leave a review. If you didn't like it, tell me anyway.**

**If you want to, that is.**

**Thanks for reading, though. **


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